HFU HF Underground
Loggings => HF Beacons => Topic started by: Teotwaki on May 03, 2021, 1355 UTC
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I was looking around with the KFS SE kiwi and spotted this beacon sending four dits
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This one seems to be in and out maybe propagation maybe experimentation....also see "H and D they are back" (04_29_21) down the log. I've been hearing "H" since late September of last year from this location.
Today from this location "H" is barely copy-able, but sometimes ~0500Z it gets up to 579-589. Tonight, at 0230Z its 449 at best.
Receiver KiwiSDR
Ant: 80m dipole at 15m
location: DM12
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Anyone notice the chirps on the dits?
T!
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Yes, I have noticed the chirps from time to time and I say that still without being able to identify whether the chirp is a product of backscatter, transition though the gray zone or an honest to goodness chirp.
Ive determined that Beacon H is not ground wave to me at this location as is Windy and the Whooper beacon seem to be, so I treat the H beacon as something different and its signal which fades in with sunset here and fades out with sunrise indicating that it is not D-layer propagation. H beacon is kind of a puzzle to me that Ive been playing with since first copying it in September of 2020.
Receiver KiwiSDR
Ant: 80m dipole at 15m
location: DM12
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This morning H is solid copy but I notice the space between the id is now very small time wise.
Also on the NUT sdr about the same signal strength as 4094
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I have not heard the 4100 kHz "H" Beacon in a a couple of months, but at 0230Z tonight, I'm hearing it nicely using the N. Utah omni SDR. It also comong through on KPH SDR.
On most SDRs at any time of the day or night I usually hear a carrier of some sort on 4100 - perhaps BCB interference. I'm guessing that H is usually in there, but covered up by the steady carrier.
stendec
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I have not heard the 4100 kHz "H" Beacon in a a couple of months, but at 0230Z tonight, I'm hearing it nicely using the N. Utah omni SDR. It also comong through on KPH SDR.
On most SDRs at any time of the day or night I usually hear a carrier of some sort on 4100 - perhaps BCB interference. I'm guessing that H is usually in there, but covered up by the steady carrier.
stendec
Thanks for bumping this topic!!! I can also hear it on the Utah omni
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Tonight at 0850 I can hear the "H" beacon directly here in Santa Barbara. I can't hear Windy or the Desert Whooper.
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In Colorado H is s2 with a zero noise floor...Q 5 signal...will probably rise in strength throughout the night.
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"H" is coming into KPH SDR at Point Reyes at S7 at 0253Z. Making it's way up to VE7AV Prince George *just* audible.
(as sig ref at KPH, DW is coming in S20+ and Windy at S10)
73's
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Hearing H 1209 UTC 1 Dec 2021 - A new one for me I think!
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Adding to the H chatter, H is heard regularly at DM12 and has been recorded regularly as it fades in between 1000Z and 1100Z very weakly each day since late September, conditions notwithstanding. Today at 1434Z, H peaked at 569 (sunrise at this location) and was gone at 1510Z. With that report, H seems to be becoming stronger as we proceed towards the winter months.
As I last reported in May of this year, I had first heard H in September of 2020, it became stronger during the winter months then either went off the air in spring or just drifted down into the QRN of summer, I suspect the latter. Although there is no Doppler on H during sunrise here, due to the signal behavior of H, I strongly suspect it to have an Asia Minor origin.
Receiver KiwiSDR
Ant: 80m dipole at 15m
location: DM12
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...I strongly suspect it to have an Asia Minor origin.
Which coincides with another phenomenon I see in "H" - it's strongest when the Asian fishing boat chatter is as well.
73's
*edit*
Tonight I spent the past 2-1/2 hours on every working SDR from NZ to JP, across N and S America and this darn thing is skywave everywhere! Seems only readable N-S line W of the rockies. Thought for sure I'd hear it in HI, where DW is making it in. Nope!
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Propagation at lower HF was odd over the last 24hrs, even at the lower SFI. I had excellent copy on "H" (569-589) beginning at 0140Z and continuing through ~1400Z. Never experienced that in the prior weeks since the beginning of fall.
Zeak,
Receiver KiwiSDR
Ant(s): 80m dipole at 15m and 1m Loop
location: DM12
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It must be at the bottom of an ancient well, 50M deep in the middle of Mexico with a completely NVIS antenna ;D ;D ;D
73's
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Tonight I am hearing the H beacon very weakly in DM04 at a slightly lower frequency. I used to copy it at 4100.2, but at 0840z I am hearing it slightly lower at 4099.8. My Icom 7200 is quite stable in the CW mode, and it appears the H beacon has drifted downward slightly.
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Most beacons do drift about a wee, though "H" is one I've always caught on 4100.000. Maybe just my time catching it, evening temps are consistent?
73's
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Adding to the H chatter, H is heard regularly at DM12 and has been recorded regularly as it fades in between 1000Z and 1100Z very weakly each day since late September, conditions notwithstanding. Today at 1434Z, H peaked at 569 (sunrise at this location) and was gone at 1510Z. With that report, H seems to be becoming stronger as we proceed towards the winter months.
As I last reported in May of this year, I had first heard H in September of 2020, it became stronger during the winter months then either went off the air in spring or just drifted down into the QRN of summer, I suspect the latter. Although there is no Doppler on H during sunrise here, due to the signal behavior of H, I strongly suspect it to have an Asia Minor origin.
Receiver KiwiSDR
Ant: 80m dipole at 15m
location: DM12
Ooooo.... that is a really interesting thought about the location of "H"
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It must be at the bottom of an ancient well, 50M deep in the middle of Mexico with a completely NVIS antenna ;D ;D ;D
73's
Some beacons are hidden in just such a clever way! You never know when some angry person will attempt to locate and damage a pirate beacon, LOL!
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It must be at the bottom of an ancient well, 50M deep in the middle of Mexico with a completely NVIS antenna ;D ;D ;D
73's
Some beacons are hidden in just such a clever way! You never know when some angry person will attempt to locate and damage a pirate beacon, LOL!
Indeed!
From experience here in Cascadia, the raccoons and squirrels are even more destructive, HI HI
73's
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Sometimes we have to be patient and give credit where credit is do.
All evening I have been copying "H" at 4094.12kHz, although weak but readable, its in there. "H" first popped out of my noise floor at this location at 0332Z and is still about the same at 0449Z with a little bit of QSB.
Although 75m skip is long right now, "H"'s location always eludes me.
Zeak,
Receiver KiwiSDR
Ant(s): 80m dipole at 15m and 1m Loop
Location: DM12
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In reference to my earlier reporting on beacons H and F,. The latest was copying of F starting at 1303Z as it came up out of the noise floor and rose to a very good signal (589) by 1443Z. Anyway, as for H, shortly after the 1440Z report and almost coincidental with the local sunrise (1449Z) I could copy beacons H and F simultaneously, H was weaker but readable at 549 and F at the usual 589. Since, from 1510Z H has slid, almost abruptly back into the noise.
So, I guess the point is, both beacons are still there, at least from this location and allowing for propagation.
Zeak,
Receiver KiwiSDR
Ant(s): 80m dipole at 15m and 1m Loop
Location: DM12
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Zeak, good catch hearing both the H and F beacons at the same time on 4100. So it appears that the newer F beacon is not the reconfigured H beacon.
Related trivia: in the late afternoons or early evenings I get on 80m SSB to talk to a ham friend in San Bernardino, about 150 miles from my Santa Barbara location. I've noticed that if I can't hear the Desert Whooper beacon, I am more likely also not to he able to hear my friend. So DW acts as a useful propagation beacon for me.
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Yes, excellent use of DW, rather than the brute force approach to HF propagation traditionally used by amateur radio. In the case of HF beacons at 4MHz (with the exception of DW), we unfortunately dont know their general location preventing much in the way of path identification.
Additionally, one of the best HF path and relative path quality identification tools easily available to most these days is WSPR and to some extent QRSS beacons.
As far as F and H are concerned, notionally its always interesting to attempt path estimation based on time of day, ground wave and D-layer propagation. F is a little easier to work with from this location; H remains more of a mystery.
Zeak,